General Housekeeping: Ensuring an Efficient and Usable Forum

[PhredE]

Hi everyone, I just wanted to post a couple simple reminders to help ensure a smooth and efficient flow of activity here. Let me ask, ok, I'm not to proud to plead or beg even... for the following:

1. Thread Subject Line Standardization:

When creating new threads, and this applies especially to news articles, please do try to include the state abbreviation of the location referenced in the story.

A hypothetical example:

"Simpsons Harboring Illegal Aliens in Springfield"

The desired, and more useful version would be:

"MA: Simpsons Harboring Illegal Aliens in Springfield"

This is important in that it does the following:
a). It allows more targeted searches
b). It makes clear that exact location involved in the article
c). Can differentiate stories that apply at the state level vs. ones that are Federal in scope (you can simply omit that state abbreviation when it does not apply)

Unsure about what those abbreviations are? Ah-ha! I have the answer for you: http://www.usps.com/ncsc/lookups/usps_a ... tions.html


2. Duplicate Reporting

A second on my 'wish list', applies to the reporting of problems on the forum. The one which requires a lot of second-guessing and floundering around is when people report a duplicate article and do not include the link to the known duplicate. We have to go searching for original link in order to include the link to close up the newer duplicate.

So, if you do know of a dupe and report it, please do take the time to copy/paste the link (URL) of the duplicate article into the report (eg. the original article link). This saves your humble and not-so-humble moderators/admins a lot of time in backtracking to search and include those links in cleaning up the dupes.


These are things this one mod/admin has observed in the past few months that tend to slow down progress here. There are likely others which I have not addressed here. These were not prompted by any one person's actions or suggestions. Also, I'm not insisting these be requirements, but if we can all get in the habit of following those conventions, it will make things easier to use and manage here - and the Mods/Admin will be much happier people for the most part (I still may be a grump, though )

Standard Disclaimer: No one else prompted this post. It was solely my idea. If W, or other other Admins/Mods want to revise, edit, remove, bend, staple, this post they are free to do so.

Thanks for taking the time.

PhredE
Mod/Admin guy

[MountainDog]

Do you also do windows? :P

[zeezil]

Good points, Phred. They make perfect sense and will enable a more streamlined and better functioning site.

[grandmasmad]

Thanks.....Several times I would forward an article on to my friend in Aurora, Co.....because it was an article about "Aurora".... and she would tell me..."not this Aurora"....I think I only got it correct once in about 10 tries...so the state thing is great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[PhredE]

MD: Are you being a troublemaker?
(Actually, I'm not so good at windows anyway...)


Zeezil: Thanks. A lot of little improvements can add up to a big savings in admin/mod time, so even little things can help.


grandmasmad: Yes, agreed. City names are duplicated throughout the US more than most people realize.

Check out names like:

Springfield (MA, IL, MO, VA, OR, - in fact, I believe the majority of states have a city somewhere named springfield!)

OR

Albany (NY, CA, OR, etc)

OR

Columbus (OH, GA, etc)

OR

Aurora (IL, CO, etc)

(etc)

Yes, it can become confusing at times!!!

[fedupinwaukegan]

Right on...

Here's the weird thing. I don't know if it's the virus I had this summer, on my computer that is, or what but I can't use the b/i/u or emoticon features. If I use them anywhere in an article they go to the end. Oddly, on our town site I can use these features successfully.

Apologies ahead of time -loved using bold.

These days though all the go-getters always beat me to getting the articles posted anyway!!

[redbadger]

Thank for the State ref...to an article that was driving me nuts....and I am halfway there